Education: A Question of Degree

Blowing the whistle on fake alumni

Bob Harris, 39, had a better forecast record than many another New York-area weatherman. Partly for that reason he had three jobs earning him about $75,000 a year, working simultaneously for CBS radio, the New York Times and the Long Island Railroad. His credentials were impressive: B.S. from the University of Buffalo, M.S. from New York University and Ph.D. in geophysics from Columbia. Despite the fact that CBS required no special education to qualify for the job and his colleagues did not take kindly to the title, Harris insisted on being called "Doctor." Then, two weeks...